About Leslie Bravery

I am a Londoner, born in 1936 - a flamenco guitarist and actor. Now I am living in Auckland, New Zealand. My childhood was spent in London during the Nazi blitz and I can remember the founding of Israel and my father predicting the injustices and horrors that were to follow over succeeding decades.

Author Archive | Leslie Bravery

Get thee glass eyes and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see the things thou dost not. — Shakespeare: King Lear: Act IV, Scene 6. An announcement by the New Zealand Government on its NZUN website[1] states: “New Zealand’s term on the Security Council will place us at the heart of international decision-making for the […]

In a May 14 interview with Dan Goldberg, published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, David Zwartz, a former president of the New Zealand Jewish Council, described the outlook for the Jewish community in New Zealand as qualified gloom. (The Haaretz article incorrectly reported him as calling it “qualified doom”.) Reflecting on the 66th anniversary of […]

The New Zealand Herald (14 March) published two stories of violence over Gaza with the headlines ‘Israeli warplanes strike back in Gaza’ and ‘Rockets strike Israel, jeopardising truce talk’. Those headlines and the general tone of reporting gave the impression that the Israeli military action was simply a response to unprovoked Palestinian aggression. The actual […]

In Syria, the plight of the 570,000 Palestinians exiled from their homeland by Israel raises yet again the responsibility of the world community for the safety and human rights of a people who, for over sixty years, have been denied justice. The predicament in which Palestinian refugees find themselves is directly attributable to decisions taken […]

The Auckland Jewish Council is quoted in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, saying that the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) call to keep the Batsheva Dance Company out of New Zealand is “a cheap publicity stunt that should be exposed for its sinister agenda.” What the Auckland Jewish Council is anxious to hide from the public, […]

The Times of Israel reports US Secretary of State John Kerry saying on Friday that “a permanent peace agreement must ultimately involve the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories, and warned that the failure of the current round of talks to yield an accord would be catastrophic for both parties.” Having admitted that […]

Dear Mr McCully, Thank you for your reply dated 20 November 2013 to our email of 29 August 2013. In it you state that the “international debate on the possibility of military action against Syria as a result of the use of chemical weapons has now been overtaken by events.” The events that frustrated the […]

In the third part of his BBC history documentary The Story of the Jews Simon Schama announced “I am a Zionist and quite unapologetic about it.[1]” That honest but blunt admission advises us that when the subject of Israel/Palestine is under discussion, whatever opinion or evidence Schama may contribute to it will be constrained within […]

In his speech[1] to the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key made the following reference to the Syrian conflict: The Secretary-General has advised the Council and the General Assembly, “The United Nations Mission has now confirmed, unequivocally and objectively, that chemical weapons have been used in Syria.” The […]

HEADLINES for 19 & 20 September 2013: Armed settler terrorists open fire on Palestinian shepherds 3 people wounded in Israeli Army attacks Israeli forces fire tear gas grenades at children Settler mob beats up and hospitalises special needs patient 2 people injured by Israeli Army rubber-coated bullets Israeli Army opens fire with rubber-coated bullets in […]

HEADLINES for 18 September 2013: Israeli Army prevents families (made homeless by its destruction of their homes) from erecting tents donated by the International Red Cross Gaza incursion: Israeli Army bulldozes crops Israeli Army position opens fire on Gaza refugee camp farmland Israeli forces, firing stun and tear gas grenades at schoolchildren, seize and hold […]

HEADLINES for 16 &17 September 2013: Jenin home invasions: Israeli troops shoot and wound Palestinian man in his bed and later shoot him dead Jenin home invasions: 3 children and youth (17) critically wounded Israeli Army prevents Red Cross, medics and journalists from entering another newly-created scene of destroyed homes, devastation and homelessness Israeli Navy […]